Beyond FateMany people today are afflicted with a sense that they cannot change things for the better. They feel helpless, constrained, caught ? in a word, fatalistic. Beyond Fate examines why. In her characteristically lively prose, Margaret Visser investigates what fate means to us, and where the propensity to believe in it and accept it comes from. She takes an ancient metaphor where time is "seen" and spoken of as though it were space and examines how this way of picturing reality can be a useful tool to think with - or, on the other hand, how it may lead people into disastrous misunderstandings. By observing how fatalism expresses itself in one's daily life, in everything from table manners to shopping to sport, the book proposes ways to limit its influence. Beyond Fate provides a timely and provocative perspective on modern life, both personal and social. |
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addicted Aeschylus ancient Greek atoms become behaviour believe Bernard Lonergan Boredom boundaries called chance Charles Taylor choice Christianity circle clock course created culture demand Democritus diagram of fate dots dreams Edwin Abbott Abbott embarrassment example express fact fatal diagram fatalistic thinking feel force freedom Furies genes geometrical Geometry of Love guilt and forgiveness happen Heraclitus hero heroic honour and shame honour system human rights hybris hybristic idea ideals Iliad imagine important individual inevitably insists journey lines live London look Margaret Visser margarine Massey Lectures meaninglessness means merely metaphor metaphor for fate Michael Ignatieff modern moira moral move movement myths nature numbers one's opposites Oresteia ourselves outline Parmenides pattern person picture René Girard revenge Richard Dawkins road sense social society space spatial story things thought tion Toronto transcendent transgression ture turn University Press word